The thin commandments
June 18, 2005 | 12:00am
More and more restaurants are veering towards healthy menus. I was at Le Souffle in Rockwell a few weeks ago and chef Jessee Sincioco, who has been with Le Souffle ever since its conception, shared with us her vision for a healthier menu. Like using wheat pasta, low-fat salad dressings, brown rice, high-fiber bread, unsweetened chocolates (she went to Switzerland to learn the best recipes, so expect only the best from her), and low-calorie desserts. It will not happen overnight, but it will get there. She said there is a clamor for healthy food among her health- and weight-conscious clientele. She will definitely whip up menus that will be good not only for their taste buds but for their waistlines as well.
Last week, I was invited to the birthday party of rock ’n’ roll king Ramon Jacinto. It was held in his new restaurant, RJ Trim Cuisine, at 28 Jupiter St., Bel Air. RJ explained that after his angioplasty years ago, he decided to reinvent his diet and go only for healthy food. He gave up red meat, fatty pork (there is lean pork, but he used to indulge in crispy pata and lechon kawali with all their fat, etc.), and everything harmful to the heart. However, he is still enjoying his life primarily because he lost 20 unwanted pounds and is back to his fighting form. Now, he has the energy to sing and dance with his band wherever his singing engagement takes him. He also realized that healthy cuisine need not be tasteless so he decided to share this with the public by opening a restaurant which he aptly called Trim Cuisine. He and his partners, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Tambuatco, collaborated on a menu that is low in calories but appealing to the taste buds! I had a taste of the restaurant’s yummy cheesecake and moist chocolate cake. RJ announced that we should not fear eating them because the cheesecake was made of yogurt and the choco-loco cake had no egg yolk. After hearing that, I put two more slices on my plate!
I rejoice at seeing health-conscious friends because at this time in our lives, when our collective girth steadily grows and with it, our risks of heart disease, stroke and some cancers, experts say that it is time to sit down at the international dinner table and have more than desserts on our minds. It’s really not a mystery why people are gaining weight. "We have a body that needs roughly 2,200 calories a day to survive and yet we insist on packing in 3,700 calories a day. Do the math and you’ll see what’s going wrong," says Dr. Steven Jonas, author of 30 Secrets of the World’s Healthiest Cuisines.
I sometimes wonder how some people can lose a ton of weight and gain it all back even faster than losing it. I know of an extremely overweight woman who went on a "painful"diet and exercise regimen for one year and successfully lost 150 pounds. I say "painful" because she had to eat only boiled, grilled or broiled food, a lot of veggies, limited carbs, no desserts, no alcohol, and had to do two hours of brisk walking a day. I was so happy seeing her looking so good with all that weight off. She went to the best cosmetic surgeon in town who chiseled her face and sculpted her body the best he could and, as a whole, she looked more than fabulous!
"I feel great! I will never be fat again!" She emphatically told me. Fast forward six months later… I bumped into her again and I did not recognize her. The truth is, I was in denial and my mind refused to recognize her. What I saw was a pathetic sight. You guessed right, she was back to her former weight, if not more.
"She lost the weight, but not the vulnerability," explains Stephen Gullo, author of the The Thin Commandments. "If you go back to foods you have a long history of abusing, it’s psychology 101: Do what you have always done and you will get the results you’ve always gotten."
I realize that is true. Changing habits of a lifetime involves more strategy than willpower. I think of my friend Mareva as the perfect example. She loves junk food. If you put corn curls, Frito Lays, cheese-flavored Doritos, cashew nuts, popcorn, nachos, etc.. within her reach, she will not stop until she munches them all. Her strategy is not to have them in her pantry. It does not mean she will never eat them ever. Of course, once in a while, she will indulge in them, but not at her home. She eats them in a party or in a movie house where she knows she has to control herself. As a result, Mareva is super slim in spite of her passion for junk food. As for me, I love bread and salted butter. So I tell the waiter in the restaurant not to serve me the bread basket, especially when I am starving. I will end up eating the entire basket before my main course arrives. Which is another big no-no when one is on a diet. Avoid starving yourself as you will end up binging! Have a fruit snack or some low-cal snack like a cup of gelatin, no-fat yogurt, or 10 (not 100, please) almonds. They line the stomach till dinner time.
Gullo says that if you know that you have a weakness for pasta, don’t cook it at home. You will end up eating the whole casserole. It would be better that you cook something you are not crazy about. Think about your food history and don’t abuse these foods.
I recently went to a big dinner party and I was so happy to see some of my old friends whom I had not seen in years. However, I noticed that most of them gained a lot of weight. They complained that they could not stay on their South Beach diet forever and therefore gained all the weight back. But that is why there is the maintenance part of the book. So what Gullo says makes a lot of sense. Leave your old eating habits behind. Consider them as part of history. Reinvent your taste buds! Learn to love the healthy, low-calorie stuff like veggies and fruits.
One very important thing for weight-conscious people is learning how to count calories. For example, a bunch of asparagus with vinaigrette dressing only has 25 calories. Pickled olives are also low in calories and high in antioxidants. Sixteen regular pieces have only 40 calories. For those who love carbs, here’s a consolation prize: three pieces of frozen low-fat Aunt Jemima pancakes only have 130 calories. A one-fourth cup of low-calorie strawberry syrup to go with it has 60 calories. Get the book The Complete Book of Food Counts by Corinne Netzer. You will realize that a Burger King chicken sandwich has 710 calories, as compared to an ordinary burger which has only 330 calories. One is better off ordering a Burger King chicken salad which has only 200 calories. Gullo says you should treat your calories like you do your money. Keep counting them!
However, do not deprive yourself too much. Once in a while, treat yourself to something you are craving for. If you have not eaten that decadent chocolate cake in months, have a medium slice (not the whole cake please!) and satisfy your cravings. Then go around the mall for an hour and burn some of it off.
Remember that keeping physically fit is not just for aesthetic purposes and looking good in the latest fashion. Most importantly, it is for health purposes and having the quality of life that you are looking for. You would like to be able to do a mean rock ’n’ roll with RJ even in the twilight of your life.
Last week, I was invited to the birthday party of rock ’n’ roll king Ramon Jacinto. It was held in his new restaurant, RJ Trim Cuisine, at 28 Jupiter St., Bel Air. RJ explained that after his angioplasty years ago, he decided to reinvent his diet and go only for healthy food. He gave up red meat, fatty pork (there is lean pork, but he used to indulge in crispy pata and lechon kawali with all their fat, etc.), and everything harmful to the heart. However, he is still enjoying his life primarily because he lost 20 unwanted pounds and is back to his fighting form. Now, he has the energy to sing and dance with his band wherever his singing engagement takes him. He also realized that healthy cuisine need not be tasteless so he decided to share this with the public by opening a restaurant which he aptly called Trim Cuisine. He and his partners, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Tambuatco, collaborated on a menu that is low in calories but appealing to the taste buds! I had a taste of the restaurant’s yummy cheesecake and moist chocolate cake. RJ announced that we should not fear eating them because the cheesecake was made of yogurt and the choco-loco cake had no egg yolk. After hearing that, I put two more slices on my plate!
I rejoice at seeing health-conscious friends because at this time in our lives, when our collective girth steadily grows and with it, our risks of heart disease, stroke and some cancers, experts say that it is time to sit down at the international dinner table and have more than desserts on our minds. It’s really not a mystery why people are gaining weight. "We have a body that needs roughly 2,200 calories a day to survive and yet we insist on packing in 3,700 calories a day. Do the math and you’ll see what’s going wrong," says Dr. Steven Jonas, author of 30 Secrets of the World’s Healthiest Cuisines.
I sometimes wonder how some people can lose a ton of weight and gain it all back even faster than losing it. I know of an extremely overweight woman who went on a "painful"diet and exercise regimen for one year and successfully lost 150 pounds. I say "painful" because she had to eat only boiled, grilled or broiled food, a lot of veggies, limited carbs, no desserts, no alcohol, and had to do two hours of brisk walking a day. I was so happy seeing her looking so good with all that weight off. She went to the best cosmetic surgeon in town who chiseled her face and sculpted her body the best he could and, as a whole, she looked more than fabulous!
"I feel great! I will never be fat again!" She emphatically told me. Fast forward six months later… I bumped into her again and I did not recognize her. The truth is, I was in denial and my mind refused to recognize her. What I saw was a pathetic sight. You guessed right, she was back to her former weight, if not more.
"She lost the weight, but not the vulnerability," explains Stephen Gullo, author of the The Thin Commandments. "If you go back to foods you have a long history of abusing, it’s psychology 101: Do what you have always done and you will get the results you’ve always gotten."
I realize that is true. Changing habits of a lifetime involves more strategy than willpower. I think of my friend Mareva as the perfect example. She loves junk food. If you put corn curls, Frito Lays, cheese-flavored Doritos, cashew nuts, popcorn, nachos, etc.. within her reach, she will not stop until she munches them all. Her strategy is not to have them in her pantry. It does not mean she will never eat them ever. Of course, once in a while, she will indulge in them, but not at her home. She eats them in a party or in a movie house where she knows she has to control herself. As a result, Mareva is super slim in spite of her passion for junk food. As for me, I love bread and salted butter. So I tell the waiter in the restaurant not to serve me the bread basket, especially when I am starving. I will end up eating the entire basket before my main course arrives. Which is another big no-no when one is on a diet. Avoid starving yourself as you will end up binging! Have a fruit snack or some low-cal snack like a cup of gelatin, no-fat yogurt, or 10 (not 100, please) almonds. They line the stomach till dinner time.
Gullo says that if you know that you have a weakness for pasta, don’t cook it at home. You will end up eating the whole casserole. It would be better that you cook something you are not crazy about. Think about your food history and don’t abuse these foods.
I recently went to a big dinner party and I was so happy to see some of my old friends whom I had not seen in years. However, I noticed that most of them gained a lot of weight. They complained that they could not stay on their South Beach diet forever and therefore gained all the weight back. But that is why there is the maintenance part of the book. So what Gullo says makes a lot of sense. Leave your old eating habits behind. Consider them as part of history. Reinvent your taste buds! Learn to love the healthy, low-calorie stuff like veggies and fruits.
One very important thing for weight-conscious people is learning how to count calories. For example, a bunch of asparagus with vinaigrette dressing only has 25 calories. Pickled olives are also low in calories and high in antioxidants. Sixteen regular pieces have only 40 calories. For those who love carbs, here’s a consolation prize: three pieces of frozen low-fat Aunt Jemima pancakes only have 130 calories. A one-fourth cup of low-calorie strawberry syrup to go with it has 60 calories. Get the book The Complete Book of Food Counts by Corinne Netzer. You will realize that a Burger King chicken sandwich has 710 calories, as compared to an ordinary burger which has only 330 calories. One is better off ordering a Burger King chicken salad which has only 200 calories. Gullo says you should treat your calories like you do your money. Keep counting them!
However, do not deprive yourself too much. Once in a while, treat yourself to something you are craving for. If you have not eaten that decadent chocolate cake in months, have a medium slice (not the whole cake please!) and satisfy your cravings. Then go around the mall for an hour and burn some of it off.
Remember that keeping physically fit is not just for aesthetic purposes and looking good in the latest fashion. Most importantly, it is for health purposes and having the quality of life that you are looking for. You would like to be able to do a mean rock ’n’ roll with RJ even in the twilight of your life.
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